Evan Rachel Wood has been a Hollywood presence for over a decade now, and she has been making waves lately with her incredible performance as Dolores on Westworld. Agency and sexual assault has been one of the many difficult topics broached by the show, and Wood has been vocal in her support of how Westworld handles the issue, promising that the violence against women serves a purpose.
“I don’t like gratuitous violence against women at all, but I would wait for the context in which it’s being used. As the show progresses, the way it’s being used is very much a commentary and a look at our humanity and why we find these things entertaining and why this is an epidemic, and flipping it on its head.”
Unfortunately, Wood was able to pull from her own experience in her Westworld approach, telling Rolling Stone that she was also a survivor of sexual violence.
“Yes,” she wrote. “I’ve been raped. By a significant other while we were together. And on a separate occasion, by the owner of a bar … I don’t believe we live in a time where people can stay silent any longer. Not given the state our world is in with its blatant bigotry and sexism.”
However, Wood went a step further and shared the entire letter that she had sent to Rolling Stone on Twitter, “since everything is out in the open now.”
https://twitter.com/evanrachelwood/status/803354562337865728
Wood is open about her own struggles, hoping to give courage to women with similar stories and help remove the stigma around discussing sexual assault. “I think deep down, I also didn’t want to be accused of doing it for attention,” she wrote, saying “I will not be ashamed.” It’s great to see Wood use her position of influence to start these important conversations, and her bravery could be a catalyst for change.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
